


Brothers

by rangerhitomi



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Family Bonding, Gen, Gen Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-16
Updated: 2015-04-16
Packaged: 2018-03-23 07:21:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3759469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rangerhitomi/pseuds/rangerhitomi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chris wants to be there for the Tenjo brothers because he couldn't be there for his own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Brothers

**Author's Note:**

> This was a gift fic from 2014 that I forgot I hadn't crossposted here.

No snow has fallen this year.

Chris checks the weather for the week and it looks like it’s going to be mild weather, partly cloudy on Tuesday, with a ten percent chance for rain on Tuesday night. But it’s still cold out, and that might be why Dr. Faker’s sons are inside for a change instead of taking walks outdoors. Chris has been here for a couple of months but he hardly interacts with the brothers unless it’s a simple  _hello_  or  _how are you today_ , because the research he has to do takes up his entire day, and by the time he’s finished, the Tenjo brothers are usually preparing for dinner and bed.

But today, Faker lets him go an hour early because he's done a lot of good work lately, and he’s thrilled, because (aside from this research being stressful), he finally gets to maybe talk to them a little bit before he has to go to his quarters to get some sleep of his own. Days are long here, but the research will be worth it, he prays.

Kaito and Haruto are nothing like Thomas and Mihael. Kaito is gentle with Haruto, and smiles and gives him small candies and reassures him that everything will be okay, and Haruto is quiet but he looks at Kaito with admiration and it’s clear Haruto is the most important person in Kaito’s life. It makes Chris want to work twice as hard to help Faker find a cure for whatever is ailing Haruto.

“We can watch a movie after dinner,” Kaito is suggesting as Chris approaches. “Does that sound good?”

“Does it have dragons in it?” Haruto’s sitting in a wheelchair – that was unusual – and his voice is a bit raspy, and his eyes are tired, but there’s a hopeful smile on his face as though a movie with dragons in it would cure him.

“Yeah,” Kaito replies, and Haruto reaches up to give Kaito a weak hug. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up for din-” He stops as he catches sight of Chris.

They stare at each other for a minute, and Chris finally looks away and toward Haruto, and smiles in what he hopes is a friendly way. “Hi.”

There’s a short pause and Haruto pipes in with a quiet “hello,” and Kaito mumbles it, reaching down to push Haruto’s chair away.

Chris has never seen Kaito act like this – shy and embarrassed and nervous or whatever it is he was feeling – and wonders if it has anything to do with the fact that Chris has also only ever seen Haruto in a wheelchair from an upstairs window when Kaito didn’t know Chris was watching them point at butterflies and eat chunks of caramel. Sometimes Haruto would have a blank look on his face. Other times he would look sick and smile only halfheartedly at his brother.

It breaks Chris’s heart to see the brothers suffering like this. He wishes he could do something more for them, and the guilt in him over the fate that befell his own brothers is so much that maybe he feels like he needs to atone and take care of these brothers.

“Um, I heard you were going to watch a movie after dinner,” Chris says, and it’s dumb, but Kaito just shrugs.

“Yeah, Haruto is feeling…” Kaito trailed off again. “Anyway, if you’ll excuse us.”

Chris follows them to dinner, and Kaito’s robot serves them spaghetti and it’s pretty good even if there’s too much basil. Haruto has a hard time getting the noodles in his mouth and Kaito smiles and helps him, murmuring reassuringly as they eat.

When dinner is finished, Chris takes the dishes to the sink and offers to clean them, and Kaito doesn’t complain and gives Chris a sort of grateful look – maybe it was grateful or maybe Chris just wishes it was – so Chris washes the dishes and hopes that maybe things will look up for the three of them. Maybe he can be friends with the Tenjo brothers, because Chris has no friends and the brothers don’t ever leave the complex, so they’re in the same metaphorical boat, aren’t they?

Maybe what he needs is a family, and what they need is a family, because as grateful as Chris is for Faker taking him in, Faker’s not going to be winning any father of the year awards anytime soon.

The movie has been going for a few minutes and Chris sits tentatively on the edge of the sofa and Kaito glances over, arm tightening over Haruto’s shoulder. But Haruto looks over and sees him, and gestures for Chris to sit closer. So he does. Haruto tugs at Chris’s hand and Chris lets Haruto hold it. Mihael used to do that, too. Chris smiles down at Haruto and Haruto smiles up at Chris and it’s  _nice._

The movie is decent even if it’s long, and Haruto falls asleep halfway through and Kaito looks exhausted as he tries to pick Haruto up without waking him, so Chris cradles Haruto in his arms and whispers for Kaito to show him where Haruto sleeps. They walk down the hall in silence and Kaito pauses by a window, where a few snowflakes are drifting in the wind. Chris is surprised; the forecast hadn’t predicted anything but rain. 

“I hope it snows more,” Kaito whispers. “Haruto loves the snow.”

Chris hopes so too, if it will make Haruto happy, because then Kaito will be too. The forecast had been wrong before, and he was glad it was wrong tonight.

He puts Haruto to bed and tucks him in; Kaito turns on a nightlight and kisses Haruto’s forehead and he has such a sad smile on his face. Chris waits until they’re safely in the hall before asking Kaito what the matter is.

“I just want him to be better,” is the quiet response.

“He will be. We’re working really hard on it.”

Kaito looks at the ground and nods. “Thank you.”

They stand there for a second and Chris asks jokingly if Kaito needs to be tucked in. Kaito rolls his eyes and bids him a good night.

(Chris would have done it had Kaito said yes.)

The next day, Chris is working and he glances out the window and sees Haruto toddling around in the two centimeters of snow, a bright smile on his face, and Kaito is laughing and Chris feels a warmth in his chest at the sight of them and works extra hard today with the hopes that Faker will let him go early again so he can spend more time with the Tenjo brothers.


End file.
